Nail or pin



April 22, 1952 E. P. ANSTETT NAIL OR PIN Filed Nov. 5, 1947 in zrz far Patented Apr. 22, 1952 NAIL OR PIN Edgar P. Anstett, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Powernail Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application November 1947, Serial No. 784,206

3 Claims.

This invention relates to nails or pins (these terms being here used synonymously), more particularly to sash pins of sheet metal and of the type that can be used in a nail or sash driving machine. v

It is one of the objects of the presentinvention to provide a metal pin, in the nature of a nail,

of material. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention the pin consists of a shank portion with a head at one end thereof and a point h at the other end, the entire pin being formed from sheet metal. The head is of the same width as the shank and offset slightly from the longitudinal center line of the shank thereby providing a shoulder which is at the position of the top of the shank and the bottom of the head. A pin of this type is particularly important in those instances Where the top of the shank of the pin is to be driven below the top surface of the wood, that is, .in instances where it is to be countersunk.

When a pin with an offset head, constructed in accordance with the present invention, is driven into a piece of wood the direction of drive on the 'pin changes as soon as the offset head reaches the wood surface. As the head is being driven into the wood the wood forces the head sidewaysslightly and the head in turn shifts the topof the shank sideways, thus embedding the top of the shank in the wood surface. This is of particular importance in the case of nails used as sash pins.

It is afurther object of the present invention jects of; the present invention will be apparent from thefollowing specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing formingaj'part thereof.

In the drawing: Figure 1 is an enlarged plan view of a pin embodying the present invention; i

gure 2 is an enlarged front view thereof; Figure 3 is an enlarged end view thereof Figurel is a diagrammatic view illustrating the manner of making pins of the present invention;

Figure 5 is an edge view of a stack of pins of the present invention adhered together; and

Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional view through two pieces of wood secured together by pins of the present invention.

Reference may now be had more particularly to the drawing wherein like reference numerals designate like parts throughout.

The specific embodiment of the present invention herein illustrated is a nail or pin of the sash pin type. The nail, indicated by the reference numeral l, is made of flat sheet metal stock from which it is stamped. The nail includes a straight shank 2 of uniform cross section throughout substantially its entire length. The bottom of the shank, which is the penetrating end, is tapered to a point, as indicated at 3, and the top of the shank is provided with an impact head 4 the top surface of which constitutes an impact surface for receiving the impact of a hammer when the nail is to be driven in place. The head 4 is of the same width as the width of the shank 2 but is offset with respect to the shank to leave a shoulder 5 at the top of the shank between the edge 6 of the head and the edge 1 of the shank. A similar shoulder therefore appears at the bottom of the head 4, as in dicated at H]. The shoulders 5 and I0 provide surfaces that face in opposite directions, the top surface of the shoulder 5 facing the impact end of the nail and the bottom surface of the shoulder 19 facing the penetrating end of the nail. The shoulders 5 and. H] are in the same plane which is a plane at right angles to the longitudinal axis a of the shank 2. The nail is of substantially uniform thickness, as seen in Figure 3, so that as seen in that figure the opposite surfaces of the head 4 are in the same plane as the opposite surfaces of the shank 2.

' As may be seen from Figure 2, only a part of the head 4 is continuous with the shank 2, in a direction lengthwise of the shank, being continuous therewith across only a part of the I 'shankl The impact force that may be applied necessarily, parallel to the opposite edges I and 8 of-the shank 2.

The nail of the present invention may be made by a simple stamping operation, being stamped from a piece of flat sheet metal stock of a width equal to the overall length of the nail. In Figure 4 the nail l is shown as just having been severed from the strip l5 by a die out line Successive nails la and lb are made by advancing the strip in the die to form successive lines of out 20a, 26b, etc. The small amount of metal at 2| between nails is the only waste that occurs in the fabrication of this nail.

As may be seen from Figure 3, the head of the nail is confined entirely between the longitudinal edges of the shank so that in at least one end View (Fig. 3) the head in no way overhangs or projects beyond an extension of the outermost side edges of the nail. This permits stacking of a number of identical nails one upon the other. A group of nails such as the nail-l are stacked one against the other and adhered together by a surface coating of glue to form a stick of nails 25 to be placed into a nailing machine in a manner known in the art. Figure 5 shows a stick of nails with each nail in end view corresponding to the view of the nail seen in Figure 3. An end view of the stick of nails of Figure 5 would be exactly the same as Figure 2.

In Figure 6 there is illustrated one manner of use of the nail or pin I. In this instance the sash pin is used to secure a piece of wood 30 to another piece of wood 3 I. The pin is driven into the two pieces of wood in much the same manner as a nail would be driven. It may be driven into position by a nailing machine such as is shown, for instance, in my Patent No. 2,430,321, issued November 4, 1947. It may be driven into the position shown wherein the top surface of the shank it is flush with the top surface of the wood piece to, or it may be driven slightly further into the wood so that the top surface of the shank 4 is slightly below the top surface of the wood 30. As the nail is being driven into the wood it progresses substantially straight until the edge! encounters the top surface of the wood 30. Thereafter the action may cease to be straight depending upon whether the wood is hard wood or soft wood. In the case of woods other than very soft woods the head 4 of the nail will then be subject to a slight skewing action tending to force the head of the nail slightly to the right as seen in Figure 6 and thus tending to jam the nail in place. In addition to the above, as the side i of the shank of the nail is being forced into the wood it has compressed the adjacent wood somewhat. As soon as the edge 5 ofthe nail comes below the top surface of the wood 30 the compressive force of the nail at theportion of the wood above the shoulder 5 is released. The wood portion 36 above the shoulder 5 therefore shifts a very slight amount towards the longitudinal center line of the nail, the amount of this shifting being determined by the elasticity of the wood itself. As a result of this action the wood overlies the shoulder 5 as seen at the corner 37 thereof. This assists in holding the pin against retraction. If thehead of the nail is driven further into the wood to a positi0n 1below the top of the surface 30 the wood will also tend to overhang the upper left hand corner of the head 4 in the same manner as indicated at 3'! at the shoulder 5, thus further tending to hold the nail in place.

In compliance with the requirements of the patentstatutes I have here shownthe described a few preferred embodiments of my; invention..

4 It is, however, to be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise constructions here shown, the same being merely illustrative of the principles of the invention.

What I consider new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A single pointed nail comprising a sheet metal stamping consisting of a shank and a head two opposite sides of which are a continuation of two opposite sides of the shank to facilitate stacking of the nail with other nails of the same construction, the head being of the same width as the shank, the end of the shank opposite the head being tapered to a point that is centered substantially on the longitudinal center line of the shank and the shank being straight edged and of uniform width from the tapered point portion of the shank up to the head, the center line of the head being offset with respect to the shank and the head lying entirely on one side of one longitudinal edge ofthe shank'with-the head overhanging only one longitudinal side of the shank, the top of the shank where it is free of the head being at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the shank and the top and bottom edges of the head being straight and parallel to each other for their entire lengths-and at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the shank, the top and bottom edges of the nail head at the part thereof that overhangs the shank being joined by a straight line constituting an edge of the head.

2. A nail for use in a nailing machine, said nail comprising a substantially straight shank of uniform cross section throughout substantially its entire length, said shank having a penetrating end at one extremity thereof and at the other extremity an impact head shaped to facilitate the holding of the nail in a nailing machine, said head being a continuation of the shank and of a width no greater than that of the shank and of substantially the same cross sectional shape as the shank, the impact head terminating in an impact surface, a fractional part only of the cross sectional area of the shank and a fractional part only of the cross sectional area of the head being continuous in a direction axially of the shank, the remainder of the shank which is adjacent to the head but not continuous therewith in a direction axially of the shank terminating in a surface that faces towards the impact surface and is between the impact surface and the penetrating end of the nail and makes an angle of the order of with the longitudinal axis of the shank, and the remainder of the head which is adjacent to the shank but not continuous therewith in a direction :axially of the shank terminating opposite the impact surface in a surface that faces opposite to the impact surface and towards the penetrating end of the nail and makes an angle of the order of 90 with the longitudinal axis of the nail.

3. A nail comprising a substantially straigh shank of uniform cross section throughout substantially its entire length, said shank having a penetrating end at one extremity thereof and at the other extremity an impact head which is a continuation of the shank and is of a width no greater than that of the shank and of substantially the same cross sectional shape as the shank, the impact head terminating in an impact surface, a fractional part only of the cross sectional area of the shank and a fractional part only of the cross sectional area of the head being continuousin a direction axially of :the shank,

the remainder of the shank which is adjacent to the head but not continuous therewith in a direction axially of the shank terminating in a surface that faces towards the impact surface and is between the impact surface and the penetrating end of the nail and makes an angle of the order of 90 with the longitudinal axis of the shank, and the remainder of the head which is adjacent to the shank but not continuous there- With in a direction axially of the shank terminating opposite the impact surface in a surface that faces opposite to the impact surface and towards the penetrating end of the nail and makes an angle of the order of 90 with the 1011- gitudinal axis of the nail, the head lying entirely between the confines formed by extensions of two opposite longitudinal edges of the shank and the shank also lying entirely between said 10n gitudinal edges to permit stacking of a plurality of such nails with those two edges in contact 20 with corresponding edges of adjacent nailsto form a stick of nails for insertion into a nailing machine.

EDGAR P. ANSTETT.

CITED The fcilowing references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 116,367 Sowle June 27, 1871 313,681 Overell Mar. 10, 1885 332,702 Dean Dec. 22, 1385 1,442,959 Pope Jan. 23, 1923 1,733,506 Maynard Oct. 29, 1929 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 117,791 Great Britain Aug. 1, 1918 

